A brief description will be given of a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) system as an example of a wireless communication system to which the present invention can be applied.
FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (E-UMTS) network as an exemplary wireless communication system. The E-UMTS system is an evolution of the legacy UMTS system and the 3GPP is working on standardization of E-UMTS. E-UMTS is also called an LTE system. For details of the technical specifications of UMTS and E-UMTS, refer to “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network” Release 7 and Release 8, respectively.
Referring to FIG. 1, the E-UMTS system includes a User Equipment (UE) 120, evolved Node Bs (eNode Bs or eNBs) 110a and 110b, and an Access Gateway (AG) which is located at an end of an Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) and connected to an external network. The eNBs may transmit multiple data streams simultaneously, for broadcast service, multicast service, and/or unicast service.
A single eNB manages one or more cells. A cell is set to operate in one of the bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 Mhz and provides Downlink (DL) or Uplink (UL) transmission service to a plurality of UEs in the bandwidth. Different cells may be configured so as to provide different bandwidths. An eNB controls data transmission and reception to and from a plurality of UEs. Regarding DL data, the eNB notifies a particular UE of a time-frequency area in which the DL data is supposed to be transmitted, a coding scheme, a data size, Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) information, etc. by transmitting DL scheduling information to the UE. Regarding UL data, the eNB notifies a particular UE of a time-frequency area in which the UE can transmit data, a coding scheme, a data size, HARQ information, etc. by transmitting UL scheduling information to the UE. An interface for transmitting user traffic or control traffic may be defined between eNBs. A Core Network (CN) may include an AG and a network node for user registration of UEs. The AG manages the mobility of UEs on a Tracking Area (TA) basis. A TA includes a plurality of cells.
While the development stage of wireless communication technology has reached LTE based on Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), the demands and expectations of users and service providers are on the increase. Considering other radio access technologies under development, new technological evolutions are required to achieve future competitiveness. Specifically, cost reduction per bit, increased service availability, flexible use of frequency bands, a simplified structure, an open interface, appropriate power consumption of UEs, etc. are required.